Polish
by Zellarest
Summary: A lovely, lush new red nail polish captivates Bellatrix at first sight. Then a whole new world of problems occurs at the slightest whiff. / Inhalant abuse inside.


Written for the eight round of the Quidditch League Competition as Chaser 3 for the Chudley Cannons.

Go Cannons!

Words: 1408

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It had been a dull, uneventful day. The sun hardly made an appearance in the pale, crystal-blue sky littered with thin clouds. People locked themselves away behind thick curtains and doors heavily barricaded with numerous locks.

Bellatrix found herself peering down at her fingernails, which were poorly cared for. Bitten down to the cuticles, what left jagged, and hangnails at each side. They were soon ripped violently from their places with stinging-and soon sore- bleeding skin as the result.

The smaller, straight-backed child sitting across from Bellatrix fixed her dark-eyed gaze on her. Though she wished to ask her what was so captivating that she must stare at it so, Bellatrix kept her eyes on the dirt lining the edges of her nails.

"Bella," she finally began.

Bella met her gaze with a wicked grin. "Yes, sister?"

Narcissa, with an infinitesimal twitch of her left eyebrow, puckered her lips stubbornly before continuing. "What do you say we have a look at mother's things?"

Bella's interest was plain in the way she straightened up, her eyes widening under slightly raised eyebrows, the grin growing wider. "You aren't worried about her having our heads?"

"I never said it wasn't a risk."

A wicked smile broke across her face. "A risk worth taking, dearest sister."

"Let's not catch the attention of _her." _The tone used at the final word reeked of disgust, saturated with deep-seated contempt. Her eyes narrowed, eyebrows lowered and came together to cause a slight crinkle in her glabella. "Mother will catch word of it for certain."

"It is without doubt that I say she will no matter our precautions. Our only worry is father. He will not be pleased to find out,"

"Therefore he shall not."

Narcissa flashed a malicious grin. Her feet didn't seem to touch the ground as she headed up the stairs. She spoke as she went, glancing back regularly. "Mother aquired polish a shade of red that sends chills down my spine. I must try it, and I wish to see how it looks on you."

Bellatrix made a small sound of agreement, lips pulled into a tight line. "Quietly, remember sister."

Narcissa nodded and threw open the door. As soon as the room, extravagantly decorated with mahogany and soft silk couches on lush carpets.

Bellatrix gasped at the sight of the vivid red polish sitting delicately on a small, four-legged end table. Her dark eyes widened and brightened considerably. With lips parted in astonishment, Bellatrix made a swift path to the table while Narcissa went off in the opposite direction, toward their mother's wardrobe. Simultaneously they realeased small sighs of contentment upon opening their respective objects.

Bellatrix took a thorough whiff of the polish, relishing the forbidden scent. Repeatedly she would find her hands red raw from her mother's attempts at keeping her from the bottles of the heavenly concoctions. Her hand tightened around the glass as the rush of adrenaline and chemicals washed over her. Her world was spinning, blurring slightly as though she were Andromeda, turning and twisting madly in her soft pink slippers. Her eyes disappeared under her eyelids fluttering closed. She was enveloped in ecstasy and not keen on relieving herself of this feeling.

Narcissa had scarcely noticed Bellatrix in the midst of her own sublime glee. She clutched a dress adorned from the hem of the skirt to the edges of the neck against her chest. Her eyes were closed and a smile of the finest tranquility danced on her lips, as if she were perfectly at home with herself.

Neither of the sisters spoke a word, both in their own worlds of delight and peace. Silence fell on the room, the air eeriely still. Then a small girl with a lacy white dress and long, dark tresses of hair halted in the threshold and took a few seconds to gather what was happening before screaming, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MOTHER'S THINGS!"

Bellatrix's hands weren't the only things that were red raw after their mother arrived home.

.,.,.

Several years later, Bellatrix stumbled across a Muggle girl who lived nearby. Bellatrix had barely opened her mouth before the girl had strung a web of insults sprinkled with several derogatory phrases spat with contempt like it was acid. In a blink of an eye the girl was blown off her feet, landing in a pile of pebbles and sharp stones. She yelped before Bellatrix had her by the hair, her wand at the girl's throat.

Her voice was chock-full of the same acid she had spoken with not a moment before. "Got anything else to say, sweetheart?"

The pathetic girl couldn't even shake her head without a strangled whimper escaping her. Bellatrix gained a malicious smile, full of teeth and menace. Before she could make a move to escape, Bellatrix raked her nails across her face so harshly as to draw blood. A drawn out and pained scream fell from the girl's lips. Bellatrix released her. The girl skittered away from her, terror present in her eyes as she glanced back.

The malicious smile hadn't left her lips. "I would advise you not to come back here. Lest you want to come under my sights again."

The girl whimpered, and without a second's thought scrambled to right herself and stumble down the hill and out of sight. Bellatrix snorted, unimpressed with her lack of courage in the face of confrontation.

Then she spotted something. A large, red handbag covered in dirt and miscellaneous grime. Its contents were scattered across the dusty dirt ground, various articles of personal things, muggle money, and-

Her breath caught. A small glass bottle filled to the brim with vivid scarlet sat in a divot in the ground, glaring in the bright sunlight. Before she knew it, the pebbles were digging into the skin of her knees and her fingers were fumbling to grasp the slippery glass. It was a small bottle, no mistaking that, but any amount of high she got from it was worth every last shred of dignity.

The top was discarded to the side as easily as it had come off. Without the slightest hesitance the harsh scent overwhelmed her. A shudder spread from head to toe, bringing goosebumps swiftly to the surface. White swept over her vision as a ringing filled her ears. Had she not tipped forward just in time, she would have fallen right over from vertigo.

When the effects of the experience finally dissipated, Bellatrix heard a voice. Rising over the wind, whistling through the trees and sending the grass this way and that, it called for someone. Someone...Her, she slowly came to realize.

"Bella? Bella! _Bellatrix_?" It was Narcissa.

Though every drop of her willpower went toward moving, opening her mouth and answering her sister, _anything_-nothing happened. After a moment of fruitless effort, Bellatrix passed out.

.,.,.

When she finally woke, Bellatrix took in the little bit of light filtering in through the thick, emerald green curtains drawn in the windows and the dusty smell that weighed down the air. Furthermore, she quickly took notice of the blankets wrapped tightly across the majority of her torso and upper half, severely restricting any type of movement. No matter how she struggled, the blankets remained fas firmly constrictive as ever.

_There must be a spell on the blankets. Without a doubt Mother's handiwork. I must escape. If only I had my wand..._

Then she heard the voices. Whispering urgently, hurried and smashed together like cars in a traffic jam. They carried into the room through the walls and cracks around the door. Bellatrix listened intently.

Only a few words were distinguishable at any one time. "Catatonic... polish in hand... addicted... mentally unstable... commit... facility..." With difficulty, Bellatrix stitched it all together.

They were going to have her committed. She wouldn't be having that.

A terrible sound of tearing and shredding of fabric ripped through the air, accompanied by a harsh scream. Soon the blankets lay in tatters, scattered across the lush carpet. Within the blink of an eye the door burst open and her two sisters and mother stood in the threshold. Bellatrix, wild with rage, spotted her wand secured at her mother's side. With a roar she launched herself forward and took hold of the thick, wooden shaft of her wand.

The rest of them were frozen in shock for a mere moment before Andromeda leapt into action. "_Petrificus Totalus_!" she screamed.

Everything went black.


End file.
